Sunday, April 2, 2017

From The LA Times-Whether or not Episcopal Church leadership in Los Angeles sought a buyer for the St. James the Great church property in Newport Beach was a matter of dispute for lawyers arguing whether a bishop acted properly when he tried to sell the land to a developer.

Thursday was the third and final day of a disciplinary hearing where Bishop J. Jon Bruno of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles faced allegations that he was deceptive and unbecoming of a clergyman when he tried to sell the church site at 3209 Via Lido, locked congregants out and then kept the gates closed even after the sale fell apart.

The Rev. Canon David Tumilty, Bruno's chief of staff and executive officer for operations, reiterated Bruno's testimony from Wednesday that the diocese did not actively market the St. James property even though it had received offers.